Business
by Trinity Day
Summary: Cole Turner visits the Magic Box in Sunnydale, looking for a magical amulet. A CharmedBuffy crossover


_This is a Charmed/Buffy crossover. I realize not everyone out there watches both shows, so here's a short summary of each with information pertaining mostly to the story._

_Buffy: Buffy Summers is the Vampire Slayer, the only one in the world with the power to slay vampires. She lives in Sunnydale, which is actually the mouth of Hell. Anya is a former vengeance demon (a demon who took vengeance on jilted lovers) who lost her powers and turned good. She is currently dating Xander, one of Buffy's friends. She works at The Magic Box, an occult store, owned by Buffy's Watcher, Giles (a Watcher is sort of a guide for Slayers). Willow and Tara are witches, and also friends of Buffy, Xander and Anya._

_Charmed: Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell are the Charmed Ones, witches with incredible power. Cole Turner, a half-mortal, half-demon, also known as Belthazor, was sent by the Triad to kill them. Instead, he fell in love with Phoebe and turned good. He killed the Triad and the Source (the "ultimate" evil) put a bounty on his head. He and Phoebe faked his death so that demons would stop looking for him._

* * *

**Business**

It was a risk for Cole Turner, sometimes known as the demon Belthazor, to go to Sunnydale, but not as great a risk as one might think. Sure, the chances of him running into a demon or warlock were high, but it was unlikely any such creature would recognize him, or even give him a passing thought. Too many demons frequented the Hellmouth for one more to make a difference.

The vampire-infested town was a cesspool of evilness - it was the perfect spot for somebody on the run. Cole always believed the saying the best place to hide is in plain sight. Besides, the Hellmouth was much more likely to have the things he needed.

Most demons and other evil creatures skulked around in the dead of the night. Cole had never seen the advantage of that practice. In his opinion, it made people too suspicious. Besides, he _liked_ the sun.

Whistling to himself, he walked down the streets towards the occult shop. It had changed names, and presumably ownership, since the last time he had been there. He entered the store that was now called _The Magic Box._

"Hi, can I help you?" the girl behind the counter asked. She sounded cheerful and eager. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, too. Cole tried to figure out where he knew it from.

"Anyanka?" he asked incredulously when he finally recognized her.

"Belthazor?" Anyanka sounded just as surprised. "It's been a few years. What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, it has," Cole said conversationally, playing along. She was a vengeance demon, after all, they had never moved in the same circles. There was a chance, albeit a slim one, that she wasn't going to try to turn him into the Source for the bounty on his head.

"So what are you doing here?" Anyanka asked.

"There are a few things I need," Cole said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I work here," Anyanka told him.

"You work here?" Cole asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, yes," Anyanka told him earnestly, nodding. "I work here to make lots of money so that I can buy myself lots of pretty things."

"You were never really one to care about using money to get what you wanted," Cole commented. "When did that change?"

"When I lost my powers and became human," Anyanka told him, matter-of-factly.

Cole's eyebrows shot up again. Well, that explained why she had said nothing about the Triad or his death. "When did that happen?" he asked.

"A couple of years ago," Anyanka told him.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't mind anymore. This way, I have Xander."

"Xander?"

"Xander's my boyfriend," she explained.

That surprised Cole again. "You've changed," he couldn't help himself from saying. "You're about the last person I ever expected to have a boyfriend."

"Xander's nice, and he likes me, and has a great body. Plus, we have great sex. Oh, there was this time when - "

Cole coughed, cutting her off. That sounded more like the Anyanka he knew. She hadn't changed that much - she still had no tact. "I see," he said mildly.

"Did I say too much?" Anyanka asked, concerned. "Xander says I'm not always supposed to talk about things. He says not everyone wants to hear about our orgasms, though I can't see why not. They're really good."

"Does he know?" Cole asked, trying to veer the subject away from the ex-vengeance demon's love life.

"That I like orgasms?" she asked.

"That you were a vengeance demon," corrected Cole.

"Oh, that. Yeah."

"And he's okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Anyanka asked, confused.

"Many mortals have difficulties with the idea of demons," Cole reminded her.

"Oh, Xander already knew about demons. He's friends with the Slayer." She frowned, as if suddenly remembering something. "Why are you here? Did the Triad send you? You're not going here to do something evil, are you?"

"You must really be out of the loop," Cole said without thinking. Before she could take the chance to ask him what he meant by that, he hurried on. "No, I'm not after the Slayer. I'm no vampire and I've no interest in opening up the Hellmouth. I'll stay out of the Slayer's way if she stays out of mine."

"Good." Anyanka seemed satisfied. "I know we used to hang out sometimes, but if you were planning on doing something evil, we'd have to stop you. Why are you here?"

The bell rang, signaling some more customers had arrived, but Cole paid them no attention. "There's a few things I need, and the Boca del Inferno is the best place in this country to find such things."

Anyanka really cheered up at the thought of a sale. "What do you want to buy? Nothing evil, 'cuz we can't sell you anything evil."

"Anya!" Both Cole and Anyanka turned to face the group who had just entered the store. Among them, Cole noted two witches and the Slayer. Cole had a sharp intake of breath, but other than that, managed to remain composed. The Slayer and the witches were taking no notice of him, which was good, because he was in no mood for a fight.

It was the only male in the group who had addressed Anyanka.

"What?" she asked defensively.

The guy pulled her by the shoulder off to the side. "What have I told you about talking to the customers?"

"But Xander," Anyanka protested. "I wasn't rude, and I didn't call him stupid. I just told him that we can't sell him something evil. We fight for good and it's up to us to stop the bad guys, and all that."

He had to be the boyfriend Anyanka had been talking about earlier. The rest of the crowd had gone to the back of the store, not interested in the exchange between the two lovers. It was obviously a frequent occurrence, which didn't surprise Cole from what he could remember of that vengeance demon.

"Yes, but unless the customer shows some indication of being evil, you're not supposed to _tell_ him that."

Cole cleared his throat, reminding the two that they had not gone far and he could still hear them. "If you don't mind," he said.

Xander flushed, but Anyanka, oblivious to any embarrassment, stepped forward. "What are you looking for? We don't sell evil things, so if you're looking for something evil, you're in the wrong place." Obviously pleased with the way she had phrased that, she turned to beam at her boyfriend. Xander just shook his head, giving up. Cole didn't blame the boy.

"Don't worry," he assured Anyanka. "I'm looking for a Matronem Amulet."

"A Matronem Amulet?" Anyanka repeated, surprised. "Why would you want one of those?"

"It doesn't matter," Cole told her. "Do you have any?"

"Of course." She led him over to a shelf that had an assortment of necklaces, pendants, amulets and charms.

They had exactly what Cole was looking for. He selected the smallest, and most expensive, one. It was also the most potent, at least for his purposes.

Anyanka gave him an odd look when she recognized the one he had picked out, but thankfully didn't say a word. Cole didn't feel up to explaining himself to the former vengeance demon. She went to the counter and rang it up on the register.

"Look," Cole said, getting out his wallet. "You've been out of the loop lately, haven't you?" He didn't wait for her to nod before continuing, "I would appreciate it if you don't mention it to anyone that you've seen me. I'm supposed to be dead, and I'd like it if it stayed that way." He unfolded two crisp, clean hundred dollar bills and handed them to her.

"This is too much," Anyanka said, trying to hand one of the bills back.

"Are you sure? I think you've made a mistake," Cole said.

"No," Anyanka said cheerfully, pointing to the screen displaying the total. "That's right."

She wasn't getting the point. "No," he said meaningfully. "I'm quite sure I gave you the right amount of money."

"Oh." She finally understood what he was trying to get across. Anyanka looked down and the money in her hand. She actually seemed unsure whether she should take it or not. Just as Cole started to become worried she was going to decline, she looked up again and asked, "How much change do you think you should be getting?"

"I think we're even," Cole said. "See you around sometime, Anyanka."

"Bye, Belthazor," Anyanka said brightly. "No one will hear it from me that you aren't dead."

"Thanks." He took the bag with the amulet in it and left. As he reached the door, Anyanka called after him, "Come back soon! We like your money!"

* * *

Smiling to herself, Anya pocketed the money Belthazor had given her. She wondered why he was on the run and pretending to be dead.

"Anya!" Xander exclaimed. He has wandered over to her again now that Belthazor was gone.

"Hi Xander," Anya smiled. She tilted her chin up, expecting to be kissed.

"What did you just do?" Xander demanded.

"I just made a sale," Anya said, wondering why Xander was upset.

"You kept that man's change!" he accused.

"Oh, that," Anya said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "No, that was strictly business."

"What?"

"You know, business. The exchange of money for goods and services," Anya defined. "He gave me money, now I will do him a service."

"What do you mean, service. What kind of service," Xander asked suspiciously.

"I won't tell people that he's not dead."

"You won't tell us that who's not dead?" Buffy asked. She, Willow and Tara had come over to the counter and overheard Anya's last remark. The Slayer jumped up and sat on the edge of the counter.

"The customer who just left," Anya explained.

"You know, Anya," Willow said critically, "when someone asks you not to tell anyone they're alive, it's not a good idea to start off by telling everyone that."

"You guys obviously don't count," Anya said impatiently.

"Why not?" challenged Willow.

"You saw him; you obviously know he's not dead. Besides, he was more concerned about other demons knowing he wasn't dead."

"One sec, An," Xander interrupted. "Did you say _other_ demons?" Anya nodded. "Other as in other demons besides him?"

"Yeah," Anya said.

"That was a demon?" Buffy yelped, leaping off the counter and whirling around to confront Anya. "You sold stuff to a demon?"

"Nothing evil," Anya defended herself.

"How can you be so sure?" Willow asked.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Please. I've been around for centuries. I think I know what a Matronem Amulet is used for."

Tara piped up. She had been silent up to that point, content to let the others do the talking. "A Matronem Amulet," she said in a soft voice, "isn't that used to protect pregnant women?"

Anya nodded. "See? Not evil."

"So he was probably just picking one up for his girlfriend, or something," Xander theorized.

"I doubt it," Anya said. "The one he bought would only work for a witch."

"Maybe he didn't know," Willow suggested.

"Of course he knew."

"Maybe his girlfriend's a witch," Tara said. Anya burst out laughing. "Or maybe not," Tara quickly took back.

"Belthazor, going out with a witch?" Anya chuckled. "That's just funny."

The End  
Wednesday, April 04, 2001

_Thank you very much to my beta-reader who took the time to read this, correct my stupid mistakes, tell me what worked and what didn't and reassured me that my characterization was completely off._


End file.
